Northern Kentucky University
Generating 3-D Images from Microscopic Photography
Institution
Northern Kentucky University
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Don Krug; Andy Long
Abstract
In fields such as crime forensics, it has been established that clear photography of microscopic objects is invaluable. For example, the specific shape of a fly’s genitalia is directly related to its age. In turn, this information can be used to determine the approximate time of death for the cadaver from which the fly would have been born. However, a microscope can focus on only a small part of a three dimensional object at a time. In previous work, our group has adapted the freeware program ImageJ so that a clear composite picture can be generated from a stack of images of varying focus. The purpose in this project is to enhance the program, so that a 3-D composite can be derived from this image. This can be done through the calculation of the distance of each pixel from the microscope, and then re-formatting the original picture into a 3-D environment. This will allow non-experts, such as forensic scientists, to be able to better identify the flies of interest to them by giving them an accurate model to which they can compare their microscopic images.
Generating 3-D Images from Microscopic Photography
In fields such as crime forensics, it has been established that clear photography of microscopic objects is invaluable. For example, the specific shape of a fly’s genitalia is directly related to its age. In turn, this information can be used to determine the approximate time of death for the cadaver from which the fly would have been born. However, a microscope can focus on only a small part of a three dimensional object at a time. In previous work, our group has adapted the freeware program ImageJ so that a clear composite picture can be generated from a stack of images of varying focus. The purpose in this project is to enhance the program, so that a 3-D composite can be derived from this image. This can be done through the calculation of the distance of each pixel from the microscope, and then re-formatting the original picture into a 3-D environment. This will allow non-experts, such as forensic scientists, to be able to better identify the flies of interest to them by giving them an accurate model to which they can compare their microscopic images.